Dick Gautier
Richard "Dick" Gautier (October 31, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor, singer, comedian, and caricaturist. He was perhaps best known to TV audiences as Hymie the Robot on the classic NBC/CBS series Get Smart and as Robin Hood on the short-lived television series When Things Were Rotten. He was also well known to game show audiences for his frequent appearances as a celebrity panelist on various game shows including Match Game, Super Password and Tattletales throughout the 1970s and early 80s. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California. Gautier began his career as a night-club comic and a singer for dance orchestras. In 1959, he joined ASCAP after serving in the United States Navy. One year later, he portrayed fictional rock 'n roll star Conrad Birdie in the original Broadway theatre production of Bye Bye Birdie which earned him Tony Award nomination for his performance. After a stint on Broadway, Dick made the move to the small screen. One of his first television appearances was an episode of The Patty Duke Show titled "Anywhere I Hang My Horn Is Home". His first TV role was the clumsy robot "Hymie" on the television series Get Smart (1965-1969 on NBC, 1969-1970 on CBS). He landed a guest starring role as a dance instructor on an episode of the classic TV series Gidget and a guest starring roles as a French dress designer in the season two episode of the ABC series Bewitched titled "Samantha, the Dressmaker". In 1972, when Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig reprised their Batman roles (as Robin and Batgirl respectively) for a TV public service announcement about equal pay for women, Adam West (who was trying to distance himself from the Batman role at the time) was absent as Gautier stepped in as the role of Batman. In 1978, he appeared as Harriman in the episode "The Intimate Friends of Janet Wilde" in the NBC crime drama series The Eddie Capra Mysteries. Dick was also very well known in the game show world for his frequent appearances as a panelist on game shows including Match Game, The Hollywood Squares, Tattletales, You Don't Say!, Password Plus & it's revival Super Password, Body Language, and Win, Lose or Draw. He was also known for performing several voice-over roles in animation, including Rodimus Prime in the third season of the Transformers animated series from 1986–1987 (taking over for Judd Nelson, who previously performed the role in the 1986 Transformers movie), Louis and a few characters from Foofur as well as Serpentor in the G.I. Joe series, played Spike the Dog in the children's cartoon Tom and Jerry Kids, and he was also the narrator for Discovery Channel's Search for Adventure. Gautier was also known for his caricatures of celebrities and has written several instructional books on caricature, drawing, and cartooning, including Drawing and Cartooning 1001 Caricatures, Drawing and Cartooning 1001 Figures in Action and Creating Comic Characters. Dick has married three times. He has three children (a son & two daughters) from his first marriage. He married his second wife, actress Barbara Stuart in 1967 but it's unknown when they divorced. He married to Tess Hightower, a psychologist until his death. Death On January 13, 2017, Gautier died at an assisted living facility in Arcadia, California following a long illness at the age of 85. Show hosted *''It’s Your Bet'' (1970-71 season) Shows appeared *''Hollywood Squares'' *''You Don't Say!'' *''Can You Top This?'' *''Stump the Stars'' *''It's Your Bet'' *''Password All-Star'' *''TattleTales'' *''Showoffs'' *''Word Grabbers'' (1976 pilot) *''Celebrity Bowling'' *''Break the Bank (1976 version)'' *''Liar's Club'' *''Celebrity Sweepstakes'' *''Match Game'' *''Password Plus'' *''Body Language'' *''Super Password'' *''Family Feud'' External links *Official Website *Richard "Dick" Gautier at the Internet Movie Database *Interview at The Transformers.net Category:Panelists Category:Match Game Panelists Category:People Category:Deceased Category:1931 Births Category:2017 Deaths